First Steps
by lotusflowerlove6
Summary: Seven years. No contact. Even though she didn't believe her cousin was dead, the last thing Lia expected was for him to come home. How does she tell him what she is? But after seeing the man who returned, the real question is: Does he deserve to know? [Companion piece to "Fear Versus Faith"]
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N...I do not own Batman Begins/The Dark Knight/ The Dark Knight Rises or the X-Men movie franchise. _**

Classes continued as usual, and we bonded as classmates and as a team. Our powers matured and developed with every passing day. Bobby and Rogue grew closer until their relationship finally became official, and while they paired up, so did we. John and I had gone from school adversaries to friends to something more. We were happy.

The undisturbed peace at the Institute didn't last long.

"What do you mean he's coming back?" I demanded, pacing across the floor in my room and holding my phone to my ear.

"Who's coming back?" Rogue asked from where she did homework on her bed.

"I mean he's coming back, miss," Alfred replied firmly. "He'll want to see you when he does."

"I can't do that, Alfred," I protested. "The semester hasn't ended."

"You can visit," he pointed out. While that was true, it wasn't my number one concern to catch up with my long lost cousin.

"I don't know," I said dejectedly. It was one thing for Bruce to be _alive. _To be coming _home_. It was another for him to come home to a mutant teenager waiting at the doorstep. I had no idea what he was doing off God-knows-where, and he had no idea what had happened while he was gone. I wasn't ready to have that conversation.

"Take your time," Alfred chirped. "You'll have to tell him eventually."

"Eventually," I repeated. "Did he say how long he'll be staying?"

"No, miss, but I'll be sure to ask when I see him."

So we didn't even know how long he'd be back. For all I knew, he could be back one day and gone the next. So, was it even worth going home? "Have you told Rachel?" I asked, thinking back to the girl who had continued to visit even when Bruce had disappeared.

"I don't intend to, miss." Right, Bruce was supposedly dead. Telling people about that, even Rachel, would cause problems.

"I'll think about it," I promised. "When you see him, give him my number and tell him I'm sorry that I couldn't be there."

"Yes, miss," Alfred said before ending the call. I sighed and flopped onto my bed.

"Alright," Rogue spoke up, propping herself up on her elbow, "what was that?"

"My cousin's back from the dead," I groaned and forced myself to sit up. Well, this posed a problem.

I decided not to go to the professor with this, seeing how Bruce might not even be back for long. Of course, the topic lingered in my mind for days. I had trouble focusing in my classes because it occupied my thoughts constantly. Finally, Jean kept me in after class to talk about my dropping grades.

"What's going on, Lia?" she asked authoritatively, "You've never had trouble with school before, and Rogue says you've been getting to sleep later than usual."

"Do you remember when Bruce Wayne was declared dead?" I asked her.

"I do. They made a big deal about it in the papers."

"Yeah," I agreed. "They didn't have a body, but with almost five years without word, the company's CEO decided it was time."

"But that was two years ago," Jean recalled.

"I got a call a couple days ago from our butler," I told her. "He's alive, and he's coming home. Actually, he should be back by now."

"Bruce Wayne?" Jean questioned.

I nodded, "I haven't seen him in seven years. I don't know if I'll even be able to recognize him."

"But that's not what's bothering you, is it?" Jean asked knowingly. She and the other teachers knew about who I was, but my friends had no idea. I was just some girl from Gotham. If only I was some girl from Gotham who didn't have to tell her only living relative what she really was.

"He doesn't know," I said hoarsely. "How am I supposed to tell him? How am I supposed to ask what happened?"

"You don't realize it yet, but you have an opportunity that most of us don't get," Jean said gently. "You have the chance to tell him who you are now instead of who you were when your powers emerged."

"Three men are on life support because of me," I reminded her.

"It's one of the challenges mutants have to overcome."

Her words stayed with me for the rest of the day.

I felt like I was drowning again.

I thought things were bad when Earle had Bruce declared dead and everything passed to me while he stayed at head of the company. I wasn't suited to run a company, but I had to leave it in the hands of a man I couldn't trust.

Then, I thought it couldn't get any worse when my mutation emerged. I instigated strokes in three men simultaneously. I had thought that I was a monster and murderer. I was confused and lost, and when I found out what I was, I was scared of what that would do to the company. I decided that a mutant couldn't be found as owner of a multi million business.

Now, when I had thought there wasn't anything else that could happen, Bruce was coming home. There would be talk and legal issues would have to be resolved, and more focus would be on our family than there had been in years. I was a danger not only to our company but to my cousin. If he was associated with a mutant in the family, he'd be under scrutiny from employees and consumers.

"You're doing it again," John's voice brought me out of my thoughts and back to the living room.

"Doing what?"

"Looking like someone died," he smiled and sat down.

"The opposite, actually," I mumbled, "someone's come back to life. It's a miracle."

"You don't sound very happy," he noticed, putting his arm around my shoulders.

I relaxed and rested my head on his shoulder comfortably, "How do you tell someone you haven't seen in seven years that you aren't even human?"

"Why would you want to?" he asked bewilderedly. "Seven years is a long time."

"When that's the only person you've got," I smiled but didn't feel any cheerfulness, "you have to look past lost time." At least, that's what I tried telling myself.

"I guess, you just have to do it," he said. "You're a strong mutant, be proud. If they don't accept you, then forget about them." I spent the last seven years trying _not_ to forget. However, the possibility of not being accepted was a definite chance. I just had to look around. "Come on," John said, pulling me off the couch.

"John, I'm not in the mood," I protested futilely.

"Shut up," he ordered firmly, linking our fingers together. "You're always in the mood for ice cream."

X-X-X-X

Later, I wandered out to the shallow pond on the grounds. Ever since that day when he first reached out, it became a tradition for us to have ice cream almost every week. John had become a part of my life and was slowly turning into a constant.

All of my friends at the Institute were becoming constants. One by one, my family of two and a half was growing, and I wasn't quite sure how to handle that thought. Well, I didn't have to think for long. My phone started ringing, and when I took it out, I found an unknown number with the same area code my phone was registered under.

So, I answered, "Hello?"

"Thalia?"

I almost dropped my phone. He sounded the same as he had nine years ago. Maybe his voice was a little rougher, but still, it was him. "Bruce."

"It's good to hear your voice."

"Yours too," I replied, fighting the smile that threatened to show through.

"Alfred said that you enrolled in a boarding school in New York. I was wondering if you'd come visit?" his sentence ended up being a hopeful request.

He wanted to see me. I felt like I was floating on air, but then reality weighed me back down. Would he still want to see me if he knew? "I don't know. School's really busy, and I have a lot to do here."

They were excuses and pretty bad ones. "That's alright," Bruce said, sounding less enthused than he had before.

"How long are you staying?"

"As long as I have to."

"So, maybe a few years?" I asked hopefully.

"Maybe," he replied.

"I'm really glad you're back, Bruce," I admitted.

"So am I."

"Have you seen Rachel yet?"

"I'm working on it," he replied. "Look, I've gotta go. Try to get some time to come home. I've missed you."

"I'll try," I promised, fully intending to do so eventually. "I missed you, too."

"See you soon," he said before the call ended.

I sat back and started laughing.

I had spent so much time thinking about what would happen when Bruce found out. I worried about what he would think and how I would tell him, but I hadn't even considered what it would be like just _having him back_.

On the other end of the line was the only other member of the Wayne family – someone who had practically been a brother to me. A phone call from some unknown number wasn't enough. I got up and headed for Professor Xavier's office.

"Thalia," he acknowledged when I let myself in.

"Professor, I was thinking about going home for a little while."

#*#*#*

I took a cab up to the manor after my flight landed at the airport. Judging by what the driver said when I told him my destination, everyone now knew about Bruce's return to Gotham. The driver dropped me off in front of the manor and back down the long driveway.

I had opted to not tell Alfred or Bruce that I would be back, but I had expected that someone would at least answer the door when I knocked. I ended up digging through my bag for the key. I found that Alfred had taken the sheets off the furniture, and Wayne Manor looked as lived in as it had when I was a little kid.

"Alfred?" I called out. "Bruce? Hello? Is anyone home?" I figured that they were out when I didn't get a reply. So, I walked up to my bedroom and opened the door. Unsurprisingly, it was as clean as ever thanks to Alfred's excellent butlering.

I tossed my bag onto the bed and decided to freshen up a bit before they got home.

I still had no idea how I was going to tell Bruce about my mutation, but it would have to wait. First, I just wanted to see him again. I only had a week in Gotham before I had to go back to the Institute, and I planned to make the most of it.

After a nice shower in a bathroom that I _didn't_ have to share, I walked around the manor, re-familiarizing myself with the rooms. The manor was just as big as the Institute, but this was where I had grown up. Even after being away for a few months, it was still home.

"Thalia?" a familiar voice called from behind me.

I turned and found him standing there. I ran and threw my arms around him. It was him. He hugged me back almost immediately. His body was much more muscular than I remembered, but he looked… like him. "You're really here," I said, pulling back.

"It's good to see you," he smiled. "When did you get here?"

"An hour ago," I told him, "I wanted to surprise you."

"I'm surprised," he assured me, smiling. "How long are you staying?"

"As long as I have to," I said, using his words from our phone call. "Just a week. I leave after we celebrate your birthday."

"That's great," Bruce said cheerfully. "I'll clear my schedule and we can have dinner tonight."

We did have dinner, in the dining room, like we used to. Of course, the long table was a little bit excessive for two people and Alfred, who usually didn't join us for meals but hovered nearby, but that was how it had always been.

"So, what brings you back to Gotham?" I asked while Alfred brought out the first course.

"It's about time someone cleaned up this town," he replied not very helpfully. "What have you been up to?"

"I think I should be the one asking you that."

"I can't tell you, Lia," he sighed heavily.

"You will," I said certainly, "eventually."

"How's school?" he changed the subject.

"It's good," I said vaguely.

"That's it?" he chuckled. "Come on. Activities? Friends? I've been gone a while, you know."

"Not many activities," unless you count manipulating anything consisting of water, "and I have a few good friends."

It would have been the perfect time. All I had to say was 'hey, Bruce, about my school…', and it would be done with, but I couldn't do it. By the time dinner was over, all we had accomplished was small talk and Alfred's home cooking.

The next three days passed, and I barely saw Bruce around the house. The occasional lunch or dinner together, but other than that, it was like he was never home. In addition to that, it was as if Alfred had found a new hiding spot that I didn't know about. Not to mention that I still hadn't told him about my mutation, but he hadn't said anything about the time he spent off the grid.

Even though he was home, it was as if he had never come back.

"I don't know what I'm even doing here, Rogue," I said to her on the phone.

"You're there because your cousin's back from his nine years away from home," she replied.

"Seven," I corrected.

"Whatever. The point is, you're spending time with your family."

"Well, I would if he was ever around," I said bitterly.

"Have you told him yet?" she asked.

I sighed heavily, "No. I still haven't thought of what to say."

"He's got to know, Lia," she said sternly. "And at least you get to tell him." She had a point there. So many mutants were discovered at their lowest points, when their powers were still uncontrollable. Most didn't get the chance to explain themselves. It was an opportunity that I couldn't waste.

"You're right. How're things?"

"Everything's good," she assured me. "Bobby's taking me on a picnic later, and John won't admit it, but he misses you."

"I can't imagine why," I laughed, "we've talked every night since I got here."

"You know it's not the same," Rogue said knowingly.

"Whatever," I scoffed. "Has Jean said anything about the report I handed in before I left?"

"What report?" the question was definitely lacking the southern twang and female pitch. I looked up from my chair and found Bruce standing in my doorway, still in his pajamas.

"Actually, Rogue, I've gotta go. Bye," I bid before hanging up and setting down my phone.

"Rogue?" Bruce questioned.

"Roommate," I explained briefly, and he nodded with uncertain acceptance. "It's three in the afternoon, shouldn't you be dressed?"

"Rough night," he said in reply. "Look, I know I haven't really _been here, _and I'm sorry. There's been a lot to do, and I want to get it done as soon as possible."

"I get it," I told him, and I did. Now that he was back, there was going to be a lot for him to catch up on.

"What do you say we go out tonight and have some fun?" Bruce invited.

I grinned, "What do you have in mind?"

X-X-X-X

"When he said fun," I said to Alfred in the car as he followed after Bruce's new sports car, "I thought he meant staying in and ordering a pizza or something like that. I did not think that dinner at a hotel with two bimbos and some buddies from the company was what he had in mind."

"It's all with good intentions, miss," Alfred assured me.

"Really?" I asked skeptically. "I know that something's going on here, Alfred."

"What gives you that idea, Miss Lia?"

"Well, for one thing, I've barely seen the two of you in the past three days."

"You still haven't told Master Bruce about your condition, have you, miss?" Alfred cleverly changed the topic.

"No," I admitted, allowing the flow of conversation to change, "but it's not like I've seen him lately."

"Don't you worry, miss," Alfred said as we pulled up behind Bruce's car, "I'm sure the opportunity will present itself soon." He walked around the front and opened the door for me, helping me out.

"I hope you're right," I said before joining with Bruce and his… friends. "Did you really have to bring two?" I asked as we were seated at a table with Earle and other members of the board.

"You could have brought someone," Bruce pointed out.

While our company for the evening talked on about the Batman who had managed to overcome Falcone, Bruce was chatting up the girl at his immediate left. At the rate this visit was going, I'd end up never telling Bruce about the past year.

"He's done something the police have never done," a woman said.

"You can't take the law into your own hands," one man said as the girls Bruce brought with him left the table. Hopefully, to never return.

"At least he's getting something done," she said haughtily, and he scoffed.

"Bruce, help me out here, huh?"

"Well," Bruce said, turning his attention to the people across from us, "a guy dresses up like a _bat. _He clearly has issues." I wonder what he would say if he knew about the Institute.

"But he's put Falcone behind bars," the woman said appreciatively.

"And now the cops want to bring him into it, what does that tell you?"

"They're jealous," the woman said simply.

"Sir," a member of the staff at the hotel appeared between myself and Bruce, "the pool is for decoration, and your friends do not have swim wear."

I kept myself from gaping as we turned and saw the two women sitting in the water. "Well, they're European," Bruce said as if that explained everything. I was so appalled that I couldn't even bring myself to apologize for his behavior.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave," the employee said politically. Bruce reached into his jacket and retrieved his checkbook. "It is not a question of money."

"You see," Bruce rose and tucked the check into the mustached employee's shirt pocket, "I'm buying this hotel, and, uh, setting some new rules about the pool area." He strode away, and there were gasps and yelps as a bottle of champagne exploded somewhere nearby.

"I think the Batman deserves a medal," the woman continued, undeterred.

"And a straightjacket to pin it on," Mr. Earle added pointedly.

_Someone kill me now_, I thought to myself while I watched my cousin roll into the pool with the two women. Another bottle exploded and sent the servers into a flurry of confusion. "Excuse me," I said, rising from the table and heading to the nearest bathroom.

I leaned against the faucet, looked at my reflection, and breathed heavily. Taking out my phone, I called Rogue, as soon as she picked up, I hissed, "He's gone absolutely insane."

"What? Who?"

"Bruce," I stressed. "He bought a hotel."

"I didn't know you had that kind of money," Rogue remarked.

"We won't if he keeps this up all night," I muttered and relayed the story of the evening to her. "I've never been more humiliated in my life."

"I thought that's what millionaire playboys do," she mused.

"The dumb ones," I corrected.

"What's he doing now?"

"Don't know. I ran off to the bathroom."

"Lia, get back in there before he does something else," Rogue scolded.

"Alright."

"I'll talk to ya soon," she promised. "Bye."

"Bye."

I took a deep breath and strode to where Bruce and his dates were still splashing around in that incredibly small pool. "I want to go home," I stated. "Now."

Bruce looked up at me and nodded, motioning for the attendants to come over. Once the Europeans were robed, I could finally get out of this horrible nightmare of a dinner. After tipping the valet, I practically shoved him out of the building.

"Bruce?" we all stopped walking and turned to acknowledge the woman who had called his name.

"Rachel?" Bruce said, meandering back to her. Not wanting to be left alone with Blondie and Bobos, I loitered slightly behind my cousin.

"I heard you were back," Rachel told him, and he nodded like an idiot. "What are you doing?"

"Making me look bad," I mumbled, but I don't think anyone heard, or they heard and didn't care. I couldn't tell at this point.

"Uh," a flustered Bruce pointed at the pool, "just swimming. Wow! It is good to see you."

"You were gone a long time," she pointed out.

"I know. How are things?"

"The same. Job's getting worse."

"Can't change the world on your own," he shook his head.

"What choice do I have?" she said. "You're too busy swimming."

"Rachel," Bruce said meaningfully, "all this, it… it's not _me_. It's…a side. I am… I am more."

"Come on, Bruce, come on!" one of the girls, Bobos maybe, called.

"Bruce, we have some more hotels for you to buy," the other one called.

Rachel shook her head a little bit, "Bruce, deep down you may still be that same great kid you used to be, but it's not who you are underneath. It's what you do that defines you. It was nice seeing you again, Lia." And then she walked away.

I looked up at my cousin, who stood watching her as she went. "Come on," I snapped, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the hotel. I opened the passenger door of the car and glared at the two women, "Out. Now." They looked at me with confused, surprised expressions and scrambled out of the car. I took their seat and used my head to motion for Bruce to get in.

When we arrived at the manor, I stormed in fuming, "I can't believe you did that! If you planned on screwing the night up from the beginning, why did you even take me with you?"

"I didn't plan anything," he protested without much indignation.

"I'm not stupid, Bruce!" I yelled and continued more collectedly, "Something's been up since I got here, and if you don't want to tell me, that's fine. Just, don't make fools out of our family." Finally, I broke eye contact and raced up to my room.

I wasn't going to get anywhere with him. He might look like the cousin I had known, but he sure as hell didn't act like it.

I changed out of the dress I had worn for the evening and into yoga pants and a tank top for comfort. I sat in the bench next to the window and watched as raindrops started to fall onto the glass. The longer I stared at the droplets on the window, the more they clumped together, until a waterfall fitting perfectly to the glass obscured the outside.

"Don't be too hard on him, miss," Alfred's voice rang out from the doorway.

"Easier said than done," I replied.

"There's so much you don't know about him, and if you did, I think you'd understand."

I sighed and let the water fall freely, "There are too many secrets in this family." Suddenly a ringing came from Alfred, and I turned my attention to him questioningly.

He retrieved a small, blinking object from his pocket. "It's Master Bruce," he stated solemnly. "I think you better come with me, miss."

**_A/N... This is a companion piece to my story "Fear Versus Faith" I highly suggest reading that story to better understand this one, but I'm not sure if it's absolutely necessary. It's up to you, really ^.^ _**

**_I hope you like it. Let me know what you think; reactions, questions, general comments are all welcome. _**

**_Happy reading ^.^_**


	2. Chapter 2

We found him masked garbed in black writhing in the rain. Alfred carried him into the car, and I expelled the water clinging to his clothes and skin before Alfred laid him down in the back. I sat in the passenger seat and kept my body turned so that I could see him. A sheen of sweat had appeared on what was visible of his face, and he panted out incoherent phrases.

Alfred's eyes glistened and concern clearly showed on his face while he drove. I hadn't seen that expression since the day he found me cowering halfway to the manor.

"I've got him," I assured Alfred when he moved to lift the thrashing vigilante. I extended my arm and focused, watching as his body lifted off of the seats and onto a bed of water gathered from the rain outside.

"This way, miss," Alfred directed me. I followed him up to Bruce's room, where he began removing the cowl, cape, and all else. I sat by his bedside while Alfred bared a face I recognized belonging to a man I didn't know.

"I need a syringe," I told him, my mind whirring.

"Right away, miss," he hurried out of the room, and I pushed back Bruce's hair while he convulsed. Just looking at him, it was almost as if someone had penetrated his mind telepathically, but the lack of screaming in pain alerted me otherwise. More likely, he had been drugged.

Alfred returned with the needle, and I took it from him, "Hold him down." I didn't want to take the chance of any retaliation while he was in this state. I stuck the needle into his arm and extracted blood into the syringe. I closed the opening as soon as the needle was out. "Watch him," I ordered.

Leaving Bruce in Alfred's expert hands, I retreated to my room. Immediately, I set out to work. Closing my eyes and focusing on the small amount of tainted blood.

X-X-X-X

Two days passed before Bruce finally woke up. Alfred sat at his bedside, stirring the antidote. It was my last day in Gotham, and the last chance for both of us to admit our secrets. Hopefully, I would go back to the Institute knowing the person who had come back after seven years instead of the stranger in his bed.

"How long was I out?" Bruce asked groggily.

"Two days," Alfred responded. "It's your birthday. Many happy returns." He handed Bruce the concoction.

Although he had woken up, he was still unperceptive and groggy. Bruce still hadn't noticed the two of us standing off to the side. "I've felt these effects before, but this was so much more potent. Some kind of hallucinogen, weaponized in aerosol form."

"I didn't come back to play doctor, you know," I commented, pushing off from the dresser to amble to the foot of his bed.

"You have been hanging out in the wrong clubs, Mr. Wayne," Mr. Fox spoke up, walking out from the shadows.

He stopped mid-drink with surprise and regarded us with surprise. "Thalia helped me retrieve you, and I called Mr. Fox when your condition worsened after the first day," Alfred explained.

"We analyzed your blood, isolating the receptor compounds in a protein based catalyst," Mr. Fox informed Bruce. "Your cousin's very talented, she had already examined and confirmed the molecular structure of the toxin before I had arrived."

"Am I meant to understand any of that?" Bruce asked, his voice still heavy with sleep.

Mr. Fox sent a look to me, and he shook his head. "Not at all."

"Nope," I agreed.

"I just wanted you to know how hard it was."

"Really freaking difficult."

"Bottom line, we synthesized an antidote."

"Could you make more?" Bruce asked.

"You planning on gassing yourself again, Mr. Wayne?" Mr. Fox retorted.

"Well, you know how it is, Mr. Fox. You're out at night, looking for kicks…someone's passing around the weaponized hallucinogens…"

Mr. Fox found Bruce's humor amusing, but all I got from it was annoyed. "I'll bring what I have," Mr. Fox stated. "The antidote should inoculate you for now. Ms. Wayne, I look forward to working with you again. Alfred, always a pleasure."

"Lucius," Alfred acknowledged as the head of research took his leave. After Mr. Fox walked out, Alfred was soon to follow. "Well, you both have quite a bit of explaining to do. So, I'll leave you to it."

"I didn't want you to get brought into this," Bruce sighed heavily.

"What the hell are you doing?" I demanded.

"Someone has to show the people of Gotham that their city is more than just criminals and the corrupt."

"And that person has to be you?" I hissed.

"No," he was quick to object. "It can't be _me_. As Bruce Wayne, I'm just a person. I'm flesh and blood just like the rest of them. I'm just another person. But as the Batman, I'm incorruptible, terrifying. When someone sees the Batman, they'll never forget it."

Sighing, I laced my fingers together and rested my forehead on the knuckles. I couldn't bring myself to hate his cause. It wasn't that much different from what we at the Institute were fighting for.

His goal was to give the people of Gotham the freedom to walk the streets out of the shadows of the crime bosses and corrupt. He wanted to make it safe for all the innocents.

I couldn't approve of the way he was going about it, though. Lurking in the shadows and hiding behind a mask. That wasn't how to create change.

Mutants were feared because we were different, and we had to stand up and face the world without masks. Jean spoke in front of congress because she had to prove that mutants were not a menace. Professor Xavier taught us about helping the world learn to see us for who we were not what we were. We had to be proud of who and what we were. If we did what Bruce had set out to do, we'd be no better than Magneto and his gang of mutant supremacists.

"You can't change the world in the dead of night. People fear what they don't know," I told him. "No matter how noble and just your intentions may be, in the end, they'll only see you as a monster. I don't want that for you, Bruce."

"When'd you get so wise?" his mouth turned up in a smile and fondness shone in his eyes.

"There's something you need to know," my voice shook, and I extended my hand to the unfinished glass in his hands. "A few months before you came back, something happened to me. I was scared and confused, but I've learned. The school I'm going to now is the Xavier Institute, and it teaches more than just math and science. They teach control, for mutants, so that we can show society that we aren't monsters. You want to show the people of Gotham that they can't be afraid, Bruce? I want to show the world." Slowly, the antidote trailed up and out of the glass into a liquid pillar.

I watched his eyes open with surprise and felt my body turn to lead when I caught a flicker of fear. "Some people think mutants are all bad, but we're not. A lot of us are just scared. It hasn't changed who I am, not really. I can just do things other people can't do. I mean, I'm still me."

He started nodding thoughtfully, "Do you still like chocolate ice cream and watching action movies?"

"Yeah," I replied, feeling as if I was rising from the bottom of the ocean and floating over the waves. "Do you still like popcorn and playing stupid board games?"

"They're not stupid," he said defensively, smiling.

For Bruce's birthday, he had gotten our family back.

"Alfred's got her at the door," I said later in the afternoon while we supervised the decorating for Bruce's birthday party. Rachel had come around only a minute earlier, and I know Bruce noticed. "Get over there before you miss your chance."

"I think I lost my chance somewhere in the swimming pool," he countered.

I rolled my eyes and elbowed him discretely, "Bruce. Now."

He turned around and called out, "Rachel?" I grinned and hung back around the corner, just out of earshot.

"You're not eavesdropping, are you?" Alfred questioned.

"Who? Me?" I quickly turned. "No."

"You'd have better luck moving a little bit closer, miss," he stood next to me and watched Bruce and Rachel. I grinned and turned my attention to the pair. When their conversation ended and she walked away, I walked past Bruce to close the door, catching sight of his present as I did.

"'Lost in the swimming pool' my foot," I smiled. Then Bruce turned and walked back up briskly, and we hurried to look natural. He was going out again. _Out_ out.

"Do you have to go now?" I questioned.

"It can't wait."

"But, Master Wayne, the guests will be arriving," Alfred protested.

"Keep them happy until I arrive. Tell them that joke you know," he turned and handed Alfred the present from Rachel.

"I'm really starting to hate being left with the company," I told Alfred, turning and heading back to the decorating.

X-X-X-X

In less than twenty-four hours, I would be leaving Gotham.

It was strange to think about. I never thought that I'd be here celebrating my cousin's thirtieth birthday. Honestly, I never thought that I'd see Bruce again.

And, there I was, dressed up and co-hosting what should be one of the most memorable social events of the year. Or, actually, welcoming all of the guests into our home while Bruce was off doing whatever Batman did.

"Miss Wayne, I think you should see this," Alfred interrupted, saving me from welcoming yet another pair of people I didn't know. I followed him down to the study where Bruce had disappeared to his underground headquarters. It seemed that all mansions had them nowadays.

We watched on the television as a high-speed car chase took place on the I-17. I took a seat in one of the chairs, "Looks like he didn't want to miss the cake."

When Bruce arrived moments later, walking out from behind the bookshelves and still dressing for the party, Alfred was already up and waiting with the expression he reserved solely for scolding us. "When you told me your grand plan for saving Gotham, the only thing that stopped me from calling the men in white coats, was when you said it wasn't about thrill-seeking."

"It's not," he said, buttoning his shirt.

"What would you call that?" Alfred pointed to the television. GCTV broadcast the chase with the words reading 'chaos on freeway'.

"Damn good television," Bruce quipped, and I snorted.

Alfred shot me a glare. Thoroughly admonished, I shut up and sank into the chair. "It's a miracle no one was killed."

"I didn't have time to observe the rules of the road, Alfred."

"You're getting lost inside this monster of yours."

Bruce sighed as Alfred helped him put on his jacket, "I'm _using_ this monster to help other people, just like Lia's doing. Just like my father did."

"Whoa, hold on," I protested, rising to my feet. "I'm trying to make sure mutants aren't hunted to extinction in the next hundred years. Don't bring me into this."

"For Thomas Wayne, helping others wasn't about proving anything to anyone, including himself," Alfred informed him.

"It's Rachel, Alfred. She was dying," Bruce said quietly. "She's downstairs, sedated. I need you to take her home."

"Well, we both care for Rachel, sir, but what you're doing has to be beyond that." Slowly, Bruce turned around. "It can't be personal, or you're just a vigilante."

"Is Fox still here?" Bruce asked abruptly.

"Yes, sir."

"We need to send these people away, now," he turned again and walked.

As much as I disliked having to play hostess, that was too much. I had spent the last few months of my life preserving our family's good name. I was not going to let Bruce ruin it in a week. I chased after him while Alfred called out, "Those are Bruce Wayne's guests out there, sir. You have a name to maintain."

"I don't care about my name," Bruce spoke over our butler.

"Well, I do!" I exclaimed furiously.

"It's not just your name, sir," Alfred reminded him, and we both turned to face him. "It's your father's name. And it's all that's left of him. Don't destroy it."

I watched Alfred walk out through the other door of the study, and ran to catch up with Bruce. "From what I've always been told, Uncle Tom loved Gotham with all his heart, but he loved you more than anything else. Gotham may have been his city, but _you're _his legacy. If you want to ruin our name, go ahead, Bruce. I won't stop you."

He walked away into a crowd singing 'Happy Birthday".

I followed, forcing a smile onto my face and watching as Mr. Earle approached him and the crowd applauded my cousin's birthday. I stayed close behind as Bruce worked his way through the crowd receiving many salutations and good wishes, and finally, he found Mr. Fox.

"And thank you for that item," Bruce said, approaching him. Alfred was right; eavesdropping was better when you were closer.

"You're welcome. I know you'll put it to good use."

"I already have. How long would it take to manufacture on a large scale?"

"Weeks, why?"

"Somebody's planning to disperse the toxin using the water supply." If that was the case, then all of Gotham would end up like Bruce had been just two days ago.

"The water supply won't help you disperse an inhalant."

"What?"

"Unless you have a microwave emitter powerful enough to vaporize all the water in the mains. A microwave emitter like the one Wayne Enterprises just misplaced." Well, someone was going to be losing their job.

"Misplaced?" Bruce repeated.

"Earle just fired me for asking too many questions about it." I never did like Earle.

"I need you to go back to Wayne Enterprises right now and start making more of that antidote. The police are going to need as much as they can get their hands on. Okay?" Bruce started to walk away.

"My security clearance has been revoked," Mr. Fox informed him.

"That wouldn't stop a man like you, now would it?"

"I suppose not." The two of them went their different ways, and I chased after Bruce again. This time, intending to actually speak with him.

"Bruce," I called out, catching up with him quickly, "I can help."

"What?" his brows furrowed in confusion. If the toxins were released, all of Gotham would fall. The city Uncle Tom worked so hard to restore would fall. That wouldn't do.

Preserving the Wayne legacy meant more to me than declaring my own species, but if I let Gotham fall, then it would have all been for nothing. I hadn't spent the last few months of my life off at school for nothing.

"Mr. Fox won't be able to mass produce the antidote for weeks. Whoever's running this thing could put it into action within days. The toxins in the water supply," I stated meaningfully. "I can keep it from vaporizing."

"It's too dangerous," he pointed out.

"Bruce," I grabbed his arm and made him look at me, "I didn't go to Mutant High, New York to watch you dirty our good name _and _watch fear take over my city. Now, are you going to let me do this, or will I have to make you?"

"Will you be able to handle that much water?" Bruce asked.

"No idea," I admitted, "but it's worth a try."

"Alright, but be careful."

"You too," I squeezed his arm before letting go and falling into the crowd. I had never used my powers on such a large scale and countering a natural physical change would be an added difficulty. I just had to push myself.

My way of protecting my family was just as wrong as Bruce's. The Wayne family wasn't like that, and I had been stupid not to realize it sooner. Thomas Wayne nearly bankrupted the company in order to restore Gotham. He didn't care about the company as much as he had cared about his home. Alice Wayne had devoted her life to studying mutants in order to understand them and find a place for them in the world. I had to be a mutant, and I had to be a Wayne. Bruce was his father's legacy, and I was my mother's. We were the next generation of the Wayne family.

And as a mutant and a Wayne, I couldn't fail Gotham.

"Everyone," Bruce called out. "Everybody?" He tapped the glass in his hand. All the guests turned their heads and gave him their full attention. I held my breath, knowing that this was it. Bruce was making a sacrifice to protect the city his father had loved so much. "I… uh… I want to thank you all for coming here tonight and drinking all of my booze." The guests laughed, and I bet they wouldn't be laughing for long. "No, really. There's a thing about being a Wayne that you're never short of a few freeloaders, like yourselves to fill up your mansion with. So here's to you people. Thank you."

One of the men from the board went up to stop him, but Bruce waved him down after taking a quick drink. "To all of you… all of you phonies, all of you two-faced friends you sycophantic suck-ups who smile through your teeth at me, please, leave me in peace. Please go. Stop smiling, it's not a joke. Please leave. The party's over get out."

His outburst had successfully convinced the guests to leave the manor, and on their way out, I received several offended and shocked expressions. The atmosphere of disappointment would have weighed me down if I still cared for it. As the guests passed, I saw a man standing in conversation with Bruce, and he seemed to be taking his sweet time.

I couldn't exactly run out of my own house, but I did have to get out of the dress. I slipped away from the crowds and headed upstairs. Since I wasn't exactly a full-fledged member of the X-Men, I didn't have a uniform… that would have been convenient. Instead, I had to settle on a shirt, jeans, boots, and jacket.

The unmistakable stench of smoke reached me. Having pyrokinesis would have been too convenient. I threw open the door and found my house in flames. "Is a little bit of water too much to ask for," I muttered.

**_A/N... I've been looking forward to writing this part for so long. _**

**_I hope it was enjoyable for everyone. _**

**_Happy reading ^.^ _**


	3. Chapter 3

I had to find Bruce. The stairs were too risky, I levitated my body carefully, moving the cells in my body and keeping everything else functioning all at once.

When I landed, I avoided the heat surrounding me and ran. Everything was burning. Six generations of Wayne family artifacts, gone. Well, I guess it was only fitting since the family had just been publicly humiliated.

It was suffocating. The smoke entering my lungs got thicker, and even though I could breathe, each breath was killing me in a way I couldn't heal. While the smoke took its toll, the flames radiated scores of heat from every direction. I couldn't look anywhere without seeing the orange blaze.

I found Bruce trapped under a bulk of wood from the ceiling. I screamed his name. The flames would get to him if I couldn't get him out. Unfortunately, I wasn't one of the physically strongest students at the Institute. I held on and tried to lift it, just enough to roll him out, but I could barely even get it up.

Fear unlike anything I had ever felt before coursed through me. This was _Bruce_. I had just gotten him back. I couldn't lose him. Not like this.

"Miss Wayne!" the familiar, accented voice of our caretaker shouted.

"Alfred!" I cried out in relief. "I can't get him out. Come on, Bruce, wake up."

"Master Wayne! Master Wayne!" Alfred rushed to Bruce's side and tried his luck with the beam. Slowly, Bruce regained consciousness, while we tried to free him. "What is the point of all those pushups if you can't even lift a bloody log?" Alfred reprimanded.

Heaving, Bruce pushed the beam off and rolled out from under it. Alfred supported Bruce's weight and hurried to the study with the fire raging all around us. He played some odd combination of keys on the piano and the bookshelf slid away from the concealed entrance. I followed him and Bruce.

The structure shook, and I knew that everything was collapsing. Alfred had the elevator drop as the fire engulfed everything above us. Maybe I should have brought John with me…

I lost my footing when the old elevator collided with the ground. "Now _that _was a ride," I panted, getting back up to my feet.

"What have I done?" Bruce sat slumped in the corner of the elevator, staring at the inferno above us. "Everything my family… my father, built…"

Alfred peeled back his jacket, revealing a stain of dark red, "The Wayne legacy is more than bricks and mortar, sir."

"I wanted to save Gotham. I failed."

"Why do we fall, sir?" Alfred asked, pulling Bruce's attention away from the wreckage above us. "So that we can learn to pick ourselves up."

"You still haven't given up on me?" Bruce smiled.

"Never."

"This is sweet," I interrupted, "but we need to get you out of this elevator. Alfred, move him somewhere with some light."

"No," Bruce protested, "you need to stop the toxin from spreading."

"But, you're hurt," I argued.

"Lia," he said sternly. "I didn't dirty our good name to watch fear take over my city."

Grudgingly, I nodded and closed my eyes.

Take away the people, the buildings, the streets, and the piping, and I can feel every drop of water running under the city. It was more than anything I had ever dealt with. Starting from Wayne Manor, I worked my way through the city. The only way to ensure that the water couldn't be vaporized was to change it into something else. It felt as if I was going through the water main myself, and behind me, I left a solidified, gelatinous form of water. A form more difficult to vaporize than liquid, but not as dangerous as a pure solid. "We're too late," I ground out, reaching the Narrows. "The toxin's already been released. I can hold off the rest, but you have to go." I couldn't do anything about the vapor that had already escaped, but I could stop what was left from getting out.

"Don't go anywhere. If you can't hold it, I don't want you to inhale it," he instructed.

After that, I zoned out. My focus belonged solely to doing what I could to stop the toxin from spreading. Turning the physical properties of a water-based mixture was the easy part, fighting against the external elements was another story. In addition, I had to maintain the jellied water throughout the entire city. I'd be putting my powers to the test with this one.

The effects of the toxin would already be irreversible for me. Instead, I turned my attention to the vapor. Dispersed water molecules moving rapidly. All I had to do was slow them down and pull them together. My hand curled, and the vapor retracted.

"Miss Wayne?" it was like that time with Senator Kelly, as if I was hearing Alfred from underwater.

I was forcing equilibrium, and it was fighting back. Breathing got more difficult, and my body shook with the strain of using my powers on such a grand scale. It grew easier to convert the vapor to liquid, but holding the gel caused a pressure to grow in my head. I screamed. The pressure, it was the microwave emitter. It was moving, and wherever it went, I had to keep up.

"Miss Wayne!" I felt hands on my shoulders.

"No," I hissed through gritted teeth. "I can do this." I pushed my focus out over the entire city with a cry. I knew Gotham like the back of my hand. Every street, every alley was mapped out in my mind. I wasn't going to lose to some tourist.

It felt as if my body had been torn apart from the inside out. Like everything inside had been ripped from me and stretched out to fit over the entire city, and then crashed back into my body, filling my airways with water that wasn't actually there. That's what it felt like to convert every contaminated drop of water vapor back to its liquid state.

It felt like I was drowning.

Then, the sensation faded and left me panting on the cavern floor. "Miss Wayne? Miss Wayne?" Alfred repeated with panic seeping into his concern.

"I'm fine," I coughed. "It's over." We smiled at each other. Then, my stomach heaved, and I threw up on the floor.

"It's alright, miss," Alfred soothed. "It's alright." As always, Alfred had been there for me, and somewhere in Gotham, so was Bruce.

X-X-X-X

"Batman may have made the front page," Alfred stated at the wheel of the car, "but Bruce Wayne got pushed to page eight." He handed Bruce the newspaper, and I leaned over to read the article's title.

"Drunken Billionaire Burns Down Home'?" I read amusedly. "Give it a week or two. I bet I can top that."

"Really?" Bruce challenged.

"I can see it now," I stated. "Gotham Debutante: Millionaire or Menace?"

Bruce chuckled, and at that moment his phone rang through the car's speakers. "Bruce Wayne," my cousin answered.

"What makes you think you can decide who's running Wayne Enterprises?" Mr. William Earle's voice spoke.

I snickered and shared a look with Bruce, "Well, the fact that I'm the owner."

"What are you talking about?" Mr. Earle questioned. "The company went public a week ago."

"And I bought most of the shares," Bruce informed him. "Through various charitable foundations and trusts and so forth. Look, it's all a bit technical, but the important thing is that my company's future is secure. Right, Mr. Fox?"

"Right you are, Mr. Wayne," Mr. Fox's voice sounded.

I smiled when the call ended and sat back comfortably as we approached the airport.

"I'm going to miss you," I said to Alfred before boarding the jet. It had been an interesting week, and it was more than anything I could have asked for. But it was time for me to go back to the Institute where Professor Xavier, Jean, Rogue, Bobby, John, and the X-Men were waiting for me.

"Take care of yourself, miss," Alfred wished me.

"You too, Alfred," I returned, "and him. It's not like he can take care of himself." Alfred smiled at that. I hugged him, an action that we had rarely shared despite his connection to my family, and briefly, he returned it.

Moving to Bruce, I smiled, "A week doesn't seem like enough, does it?"

"You'll be back," he said knowingly.

"And you'll still be here," I countered. He wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. There was still so much for him to do here.

He nodded with a tight-lipped thoughtfulness on his face, "We're going to be opening a new division at the company."

"Really?" I asked with interest.

"Yeah. The Alice Wayne Genetics Department. I want it to focus on mutations in people. Aunt Alice left her research at the company before she died. I want to put it to good use. We'll learn about what we don't know, and then there won't be anything to be afraid of. And we'll be doing a couple other things, too." His eyes were bright and excited.

"You're serious?" I gaped in amazement, surprise, and pure joy.

He grinned, "Of course, Mr. Fox is going to pick out the staff personally. He'll keep an eye on it, and when you're ready, I want you to be head of the department."

"Bruce, that's too much," I protested.

"I can't think of anyone better for the job," he assured me. "It'll be a couple years, though. You know, with college and everything."

"Thank you." There was so much else to say, but I couldn't think of how to phrase it. Everything my mother had achieved was finally going to be utilized. The years of research with Professor Xavier were going to pay off years after her death.

One day mutants and humans would live in a peaceful Gotham rid of crime and corruption. This was only the first step. We'd change the world. We just had to take it one day and night at a time.

**_A/N... And that's it for the Batman Begins segment ^.^ I'm not sure what I'll do with the other two Nolan movies, but I'll figure that out later._**

**_Feedback is always greatly appreciated. If you liked this and haven't read "Fear Versus Faith", come on over and check it out. _**

**_Thanks for reading. ^.^ _**


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